Network Members
The founding institutions of the Translational Geroscience Network (TGN) include:
- Mayo Clinic
- Harvard University
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of Connecticut (UConn)
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota
- University of Texas (UT)
- Wake Forest University
The TGN is maturing this network into a national resource, starting with a subgroup of centers committed to working together using common measures and protocols. These shared methods allow for networkwide learning from complementary, small-scale, proof-of-concept "use case" clinical studies.
The network is developing infrastructure to broaden expertise, enabling more-rapid translation of a wider range of drugs that target basic aging processes and age-related chronic diseases and disorders. This infrastructure enhances geroscience research by:
- Providing regulatory and data management support for new clinical trials
- Facilitating reverse translation by providing biobanked samples and data to basic biology and epidemiology labs
- Developing materials for efficient scaling into a larger collaborative network
Institutions and investigators in the TGN include:
Mayo Clinic
- James L. Kirkland, M.D., Ph.D. — Principal Investigator, Translational Geroscience Network
- Tamara Tchkonia, Ph.D., M.S. — Director, Facility for Geroscience Analysis
- Kenneth (Ken) Pagel, M.A.. — Research Operations Manager
- Jair Machado Espindola Netto, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
- Nathan K. LeBrasseur, Ph.D., M.S.
- Sundeep Khosla, M.D.
- Robert J. Pignolo, M.D., Ph.D.
- Tamara K. Evans
Mayo Clinic is one of the largest not-for-profit academic health systems in the U.S. Mayo Clinic is consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. The clinic's world-class experts work together to provide comprehensive care to more than 1 million patients from 140 countries every year.
Mayo Clinic scientists and physicians conduct innovative research across the spectrum of medicine, translating their discoveries into new treatments that benefit patients. Knowing that teamwork improves and speeds discovery, researchers collaborate with fellow scientists nationally and internationally as they mentor the next generation of researchers.
Harvard Medical School and the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife
- Lewis Lipsitz, M.D.
- Douglas P. Kiel, M.D., M.P.H.
- Thomas Travison, Ph.D.
The Marcus Institute for Aging Research is an affiliate of Harvard Medical School focused on applied research on aging. The institute has approximately 20 faculty and 12 postdoctoral trainees and is composed of several laboratories, including a musculoskeletal center, a biostatistics and analytics center, an aging brain center, a palliative care center, a falls and mobility center, a memory health center, and a center for clinical trials.
As part of Hebrew SeniorLife, the Marcus Institute draws on a large older adult community that is part of an integrated system of health care, housing and teaching serving thousands of seniors in the greater Boston area and beyond. Hebrew SeniorLife conducts influential research that continually advances quality of life for seniors, informs public decision-making, develops and tests novel treatments and interventions, and grows the ranks of geriatric care providers.
Johns Hopkins University
- Jeremy Walston, M.D.
Johns Hopkins Medicine improves the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. Johns Hopkins Medicine unites physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System into a collaboration that includes six academic and community hospitals, four suburban health care and surgery centers, more than 40 patient care locations, a home care group, and an international division.
Tomorrow's biomedical research and health care leaders are learning from the best at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine today.
More about Johns Hopkins Medicine
UConn School of Medicine
- George A. Kuchel M.D., FRCP, AGSF — Principal co-investigator, Translational Geroscience Network
- Jenna Bartley, Ph.D.
- Laura Haynes, Ph.D.
UConn School of Medicine and UConn Health are dedicated to high-quality education, pioneering research and exceptional care for patients at every stage of life. As Connecticut's only public academic medical center, UConn School of Medicine, UConn Health and the University of Connecticut drive the pursuit of knowledge throughout the university's dynamic network of campuses across the state.
UConn School of Medicine strives to be a nationally recognized leader in health care. Through its commitment to excellence, teamwork, leadership and innovation, UConn School of Medicine supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research and well-rounded learning for the next generation of health care professionals.
More about UConn School of Medicine
University of Michigan
- Raymond Yung, M.B., Ch.B.
University of Michigan was the first medical school in the United States to recognize the importance of — and to build — a university hospital for physician instruction. The university is also a pioneer in the introduction of the modern science-based curriculum and has galvanized a reputation as one of the nation's premier public research-oriented medical schools.
Michigan Medicine is home to one of the largest health care complexes in Michigan. It has been the site of numerous groundbreaking medical and technological advancements.
More about the University of Michigan Medical School
University of Minnesota Medical School
- Laura Niedernhofer, M.D., Ph.D.
- Teresa McCarthy, M.D., M.S., C.M.D.
- Paul D. Robbins, Ph.D.
The University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Biology of Aging and Metabolism is an interdisciplinary, trans-departmental endeavor across the University of Minnesota Medical School to advance research on the fundamental biology of aging. We are embracing the Geroscience approach to aging research. This stems from the knowledge that old age is the greatest risk factor for most chronic diseases, often by orders of magnitude. This includes diabetes, osteoarthritis, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. For decades, we have avidly managed disease risk factors, such as high cholesterol and blood pressure, yet ignored the greatest risk factor for disease: being old. Geroscientists aim to discover fundamental mechanisms of aging that can be therapeutically targeted to diminish the risk of all diseases of old age with a single intervention.
The long-term vision of the Medical Discovery Team on the Biology of Aging and the Institute on the Biology of Aging and Metabolism is to discover ways to therapeutically target aging, which will enable extending the healthspan (the period of good health in old age) and quality of life for the elderly in the state of Minnesota and beyond.
More about the Institute on Biology of Aging and Metabolism
More about the University of Minnesota Medical School
UT Health
- Nicolas Musi, M.D.
UT Health San Antonio serves patients in San Antonio and South Texas. Its health care professionals work in more than 100 affiliated hospitals, clinics and health care facilities across San Antonio, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. More than 3,000 students, researchers and postdoctoral students from around the world come to the UT Health San Antonio to study, conduct research and discover new breakthroughs.
Research seeks to understand the basic biology of aging; discover therapies that will treat and cure the diseases of aging by fostering dynamic, collaborative research; educate and train future scientists and clinicians; and promote public awareness of age-related issues.
More about UT Health San Antonio
Wake Forest
- Stephen B. Kritchevsky, Ph.D. — Principal co-investigator, Translational Geroscience Network
- Jamie Nicole Justice, Ph.D.
- Walter T. Ambrosius, Ph.D.
- Leora F. Henkin, M.P.H, M.Ed.
Wake Forest School of Medicine prepares the next generation of health care leaders through education, research and innovation. With excellence in education and research and direct integration into Wake Forest Baptist Health, the faculty has cultivated a leading academic medical center that continues to grow.
Wake Forest has positioned its medical school to become the nexus of an evolving learning health system — an organization with a culture of learning and innovation in which all are invited to explore questions aimed at improving how they do what they do.